We see the future.
It is a place of first dates and curious connections. Enough space to get deliciously lost as corridors intersect behind bookcases and spiral staircases appear beneath laboratory tables.
Interdisciplinary art with a dark and dreamy story, uniquely of and from the Pacific Northwest, located in its most iconic neighborhood. Nebula will be the next great thing Seattle can be proud to say, “that started here.”
Presentation of Nebula Seattle’s Construction and Development Plan
Imagine stepping across the threshold of a dream: light glimmers across the walls, music hums in the distance. This is Nebula Seattle—a new immersive arts venue where the people of Seattle will come to imagine, connect, and dream together.
Ripple Productions was founded in 2003 with a mission to push the boundaries of storytelling by fusing the performing, visual, and culinary arts. For fourteen years, our company created the celebrated Café Nordo in Pioneer Square—an experience that blended theater, fine dining, and installation art into original works that redefined audience engagement. Thirty productions later, we had employed over two hundred artists and built a devoted community of patrons who came not only to be entertained, but to feel part of something alive and imaginative.
Now, post-pandemic, Seattle’s downtown is hungry for renewal—and so are we. Nebula Seattle is our next evolution: an immersive, interdisciplinary “dream laboratory”where artists and audiences co-create experiences that blur the line between waking and wonder. Inside its galleries, visitors will meet the “dream scientists,” wander through interactive installations, and encounter live music and performance woven through the space. Like Café Nordo, Nebula is built on the belief that art should be tasted, touched, and lived.
Our team has secured a home for Nebula in the historic Buttnick Building in Pioneer Square—a 22,000-square-foot treasure that has been empty for nearly a decade. In collaboration with the building’s new owner, we will breathe creative life into this dormant space and anchor a block that has struggled since the pandemic. When open, Nebula will attract more than 28,000 visitors each year, creating 85 living-wage jobs and paying over $1.5 million directly to local artists. It will become a cultural destination for Seattleites and visitors alike.
Ripple Productions has launched a $4.8 million capital campaign, and we are proud to share that almost $2 Million is already raised through early private commitments. This campaign will cover the building’s adaptive reuse, artist commissions, and the creation of a financially sustainable venue. As with Café Nordo, the majority of our ongoing revenue will come from ticket sales and events, ensuring that donor investments seed a lasting, self-supporting arts enterprise.
At its heart, Nebula Seattle addresses the question: What does a city dream about when it rebuilds itself? We believe Seattle dreams of artistry, inclusivity, and connection. Nebula will bring people together across disciplines, ages, and backgrounds; it will employ and mentor young creators; and it will open its doors through accessible ticket programs and community partnerships.
Ripple Productions, the umbrella organization that housed Café Nordo and now houses Nebula Seattle, has come a long way. From an experimental theater company garnering critical acclaim in Soho NYC, to a date-night institution in Pioneer Square, to Seattle’s own dream technology company able to access a dream portal in an old steam plant. Our bread and butter is reinvention with a commitment to new and innovative storytelling.